Xavier names new president

18th May 2015   ·   0 Comments

Less than a week after its star-studded graduation, Xavier University announced that it has tapped C. Reynold Verret, the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Savannah State University in Georgia, to succeed outgoing president Dr. Norman Francis. Francis, the longest-serving U.S. university president, will retire June 30 after serving in that capacity for 47 years at Xavier.

Xavier made the announcement Thursday morning, five days after Francis presided over his last graduation ceremony, which honored former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, former U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu and former NBA star and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson, among others.

Verrett, a native of Haiti, has held the post of chief academic officer at Savannah State since 2012, WWL-TV reported. Previously, he served as Provost at Wilkes University in northern Pennsylvania and before that as Dean of the Misher College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Verret is also a scientist, who taught and led research laboratories as a member of the faculty at Tulane University and also at Clark Atlanta University, where he was also chair of the department of chemistry.

“I would like to congratulate and welcome Dr. Verret to the Xavier family,” said Michael Rue, chairman of the Board of Trustees in a statement. “While there were a number of highly-qualified candidates, Dr. Verret stood out for his proven leadership and experience expanding enrollment and increasing graduation rates. His record of achievement, personal history, and values set him apart as the clear choice to carry on the ideals that our founder, St. Katharine Drexel, and our longstanding president, Dr. Norman C. Francis, wove into the fabric of this institution.”

“I am very pleased Dr. Verret has been selected for this phenomenal opportunity. While his departure is a loss for Savannah State University, he is a proven leader in higher education and is definitely prepared to uphold and advance the strong legacy of the legendary Xavier University,” said Dr. Cheryl D. Dozier, president of Savannah State University.

Verret was identified through a national search that followed the September 2014 announcement that Francis would be retiring on June 30. During this period, the field of potential candidates was narrowed from an initial pool of more than 300.

“I am deeply honored to be elected as the next president of Xavier and am excited to engage the entire Xavier community in envisioning a future that sustains the university’s distinct mission in a changing higher education environment and that responds to societal need,” said Verret. “Upon arriving in this country as a refugee from Haiti in 1963, I was supported by many who nurtured my love of learning and science and gave me the encouragement and confidence to persevere. During my tenure at Xavier, I will continue paying it forward, helping generations of young people realize their dreams, regardless of their backgrounds.”

This is the first time the Xavier Board of Trustees has ever selected a new president. In 1968, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the religious order that established the university in 1925, promoted Francis to the post of president. He was the first lay, first male, and first African American head of the university.

Verret and Francis met following the search committee’s recommendation, the school said.

“I am most pleased to welcome Dr. Verret to Xavier. I have complete confidence that the Board of Trustees made a wise decision, and I know that Dr. Verret will carry on the mission and values of this institution far into the future,” said Francis.

“From its beginning, Xavier has been dedicated to empowerment of the underserved and voiceless through education, which is a vital instrument of societal strength and justice. In this regard, Xavier’s purpose remains relevant, and I am eager to sustain and strengthen it,” Dr. Verret said last week. “I have been shaped by the encounter of faith and reason, as a student of the Jesuits at the former Brooklyn Preparatory, of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and before then, by the Fathers of the Holy Spirit.”

Verret does appear to be uniquely qualified to lead the academic powerhouse founded by St. Katharine Drexel and build upon its reputation as the top producer of Black doctors and one of the top training grounds for pharmacists of color.

Verret earned his undergraduate degree cum laude in biochemistry from Columbia University and a Ph.D in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was also a postdoctoral fellow at the Howard Hughes Institute for Immunology at Yale University and at the Center for Cancer Research at MIT. As a biochemist, his research interests have included the cytotoxicity of immune cells, biosensors, and biomarkers. He has published in the fields of biological chemistry and immunology.

As a scientist, Dr. Verret will build on Xavier’s strong standing in graduating students in the STEM fields. He has helped develop programs to prepare STEM teachers, secure tuition support for teacher certification in STEM fields, and affirm joint instructional and research programs. He has promoted global initiatives in public health and on international science efforts, and as chair of the Chemistry department at Clark Atlanta University, he increased research efforts representing more than $9.7 million of extramural funding.

Throughout his career, Dr. Verret has worked to build bridges across disciplines, recognizing that the significant questions and societal challenges require knowledge and analysis across many fields. He has promoted interdisciplinary curricula between Liberal Arts, Humanities and Sciences that address the interplay of culture, science, and society and prepare students in all disciplines for leadership roles.

Dr. Verret has served on the faculty at Tulane University, the Misher College of Arts and Sciences at the University of the Sciences, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Clark Atlanta University, in addition to holding academic appointments as professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Savannah State University and Wilkes University.

“This is one of the most important decisions that the Xavier Board of Trustees has ever had to make, and we made it fully knowing its significance to the future of Xavier and the nation. We remain deeply thankful to the Xavier community for the valuable guidance they have provided us over the course of this most important endeavor. The unanimous election of Dr. Verret is an indicator that the Xavier community’s voice was heard loud and clear,” said Gladstone Jones, III, who chaired Xavier’s Presidential Search Committee.

“The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament celebrate the appointment of Dr. C. Reynold Verret. We are confident that the depth and breadth of his experience as well as his appreciation of Xavier’s unique mission and Catholic identity have well prepared him to be its next great president,” said Sr. Patricia Suchalski, president of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.

Xavier University, the nation’s sole Black Catholic institution of higher learning, has been the top producer of Black medical doctors for more than two decades and has also distinguished itself as one of the country’s top producers of pharmacists of color.

Dr. Norman Francis, a Lafayette, La., native, has been credited with expanding Xavier’s Carrollton campus, recruiting and cultivating a staff and team of educators and administrators to attract the best and brightest minds in college, building a new state-of-the-art Convocation Center and rebuilding Xavier after Hurricane Katrina flooded 80 percent of New Orleans in 2005.

Francis, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Xavier, was recently awarded an honorary degree by Dillard University.

This article originally published in the May 18, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.